By the time he was sixteen years old, some where heralding Rico Fata, born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as the next star in the NHL. Fata, who played one year as an under-age with his hometown Greyhounds, then spent his next three years of junior hockey with the OHL's London Knights.

In the end, Fata was the sixth overall draft selection of the Calgary Flames in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Fata went to camp with the Flames, and that brought him to Japan where the Flames were opening the 1998-99 season. Still without a contract, and a survivor of the final cut at camp, Fata holds the unique distinction of being the only NHLer to sign his first pro contract in Japan. Hours after signing his contract, he made his NHL debut, but by the 20-game mark that season, he'd registered only one assist and spent the remainder of the year in the AHL.

The next year, Fata played just two games with Calgary, and yet again failed to make an impression on the Flames coaching staff. His third season in the organization he again spent in the AHL helping the Saint John Flames capture their first Calder Cup, while playing five games with the big club throughout the year. When he failed to crack the Calgary roster during the 2001-02 training camp, Rico Fata was placed on waivers.

The New York Rangers, impressed with Fata's skating and puck skills claimed the speedy winger but after just five games, all of which Fata was held scoreless, he was assigned to their AHL affiliate in Hartford. In 2002-03 Fata impressed the Rangers coaching staff enough to have him play in 36 games with the club before he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins just prior to the trading deadline. Upon his arrival in Pittsburgh, Fata was placed on a line with Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and went on to register 13 points (5-8-13) in 27 games with the club.

The 2003-04 season marked Fata's first full season in the NHL, and with the opportunity to play on a regular basis, the former junior star went on to register 34 points (16-18-34). Following a lock-out year in 2004-05 that forced Fata to take his game to Italy, the former junior star split the early part of the 2005-06 season between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL before being claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers in January, 2006.

Fata would compete in only 6 games with the Thrashers before he was claimed on waivers by the Washington Capitals.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1994-95

Sault Ste. Marie Legion

NOHA

51

52

51

103

1995-96

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

OHL

62

11

15

26

52

4

0

0

0

0

1996-97

London Knights

OHL

59

19

34

53

76

1997-98

London Knights

OHL

64

43

33

76

110

16

9

5

14

49

1998-99

Calgary Flames

NHL

20

0

1

1

4

0

1998-99

London Knights

OHL

23

15

18

33

41

+3

25

10

12

22

42

1998-99

Canada

WJC-A

7

1

3

4

8

1999-00

Calgary Flames

NHL

2

0

0

0

0

-1

1999-00

Saint John Flames

AHL

76

29

29

58

65

-11

3

0

0

0

4

2000-01

Calgary Flames

NHL

5

0

0

0

6

-3

2000-01

Saint John Flames

AHL

70

23

29

52

129

+10

19

2

3

5

22

2001-02

New York Rangers

NHL

10

0

0

0

0

-2

2001-02

Hartford Wolf Pack

AHL

61

35

36

71

36

+27

10

2

5

7

4

2002-03

New York Rangers

NHL

36

2

4

6

6

-1

2002-03

Hartford Wolf Pack

AHL

9

8

6

14

6

+4

2002-03

Pittsburgh Penguins

NHL

27

5

8

13

10

-6

2003-04

Pittsburgh Penguins

NHL

73

16

18

34

54

-46

2004-05

A&O Asiago Hockey

Italy

35

18

20

38

36

9

7

5

12

10

2005-06

Pittsburgh Penguins

NHL

20

0

0

0

10

-5

2005-06

Wilkes-Barre Penguins

AHL

25

8

10

18

39

+7

2005-06

Atlanta Thrashers

NHL

6

0

1

1

4

-2

2005-06

Washington Capitals

NHL

21

3

3

6

8

+3

2006-07

Washington Capitals

NHL

10

1

1

2

2

+3

2006-07

Adler Mannheim

Germany

29

8

10

18

12

11

2

4

6

8

2007-08

Adler Mannheim

Germany

53

7

14

21

67

5

0

2

2

2

2008-09

EHC Biel-Bienne

Swiss

45

18

16

34

44

8

5

2

7

8

2008-09

EHC Biel-Bienne

Swiss-Q

7

6

3

9

10

2009-10

EHC Biel-Bienne

Swiss

41

15

16

31

28

11

3

1

4

14

2009-10

EHC Biel-Bienne

Swiss-Q

5

1

4

5

2

2010-11

EHC Biel-Bienne

Swiss

47

13

21

34

16

4

1

4

5

0

2011-12

HC Geneve-Servette

Swiss

50

17

16

33

26

9

5

2

7

18

2012-13

HC Geneve-Servette

Swiss

41

8

16

24

20

1

0

0

0

2

2013-14

HIFK Helsinki

Finland

10

2

1

3

2

NHL Totals

230

27

36

63

104

AHL All-Rookie Team (2000) AHL Second All-Star Team (2002)

Claimed on waivers by NY Rangers from Calgary, October 3, 2001. Traded to Pittsburgh by NY Rangers with Joel Bouchard, Richard Lintner and Mikael Samuelsson for Mike Wilson, Alex Kovalev, Janne Laukkanen and Dan LaCouture, February 10, 2003. Signed as a free agent by Asiago (Italy), August 15, 2004. Claimed on waivers by Atlanta from Pittsburgh, January 31, 2006. Claimed on waivers by Washington from Atlanta, March 9, 2006. Signed as a free agent by Mannheim (Germany), November 8, 2006.